Star Trek: First Contact
:"Resistance is Futile." The Borg begin a new invasion of the Federation, but this time they take the battle to the year 2063: the launch of Earth’s first warp ship and First Contact with extraterrestrials. Summary Act One 24th Century Jean-Luc Picard stands in an expanse, surrounded by a sea of cold machinery and the dead faces of millions of Borg. The captain is a single point of color in this place, his red Starfleet uniform a stark contrast in the dark gray catacombs of a Borg vessel. Strapped to an examination table, Picard is subjected to a gruesome procedure; his flesh drained of life and replaced with alien technology. He is violated, mutilated, transformed into one of them: Locutus. A sharp, needle-like instrument descends from the darkness toward the former Human. With a shrill buzz, the probe extends and pierces his eye... Picard opens his eyes to find himself in familiar surroundings: his ready room. Moving to the lavatory, he stands at the sink and splashes water onto his face. Staring into the mirror, Picard runs a hand along his cheek bone where the Borg implants once were. But something isn't right. Looking back from his reflection, Picard is stunned to see his skin stretch and move. Suddenly a small, circular device bursts through his flesh and attaches itself to his face. He opens his mouth to exclaim in horror then - The captain lurches awake, having fallen asleep on the couch in his ready room. An indicator sounds and he moves toward his desktop terminal, activating the device. Sitting in front of the screen, Picard is greeted by his superior officer: Admiral Hayes. Getting right to the point, the admiral gives Picard the news, but the captain is already well aware. "Yes, I know," he says, "The Borg." * "Captain's Log, Stardate 50893.5. The moment I have dreaded for nearly six years has finally arrived. The Borg, our most lethal enemy, have begun an invasion of the Federation, and this time, there may be no stopping them." The senior staff of the new ''Enterprise''-E has assembled in the ship's observation lounge. Picard sits at the head of the table and briefs his crew: A single Borg ship is less than an hour away from the Federation border, a fleet of starships is preparing to defend Earth, but the Enterprise will not be among them. The captain informs his crew that they have been relegated to the sidelines, patrolling the Neutral Zone in case of a Romulan incursion. Everyone in the room objects, but, as Picard says, these are their orders. "Set a course for the Neutral Zone." As the Enterprise slowly makes its way to the outskirts of Federation space, Picard immerses himself in opera. Staring from his ready room window into the darkness of space, the captain is lost in thought as his first officer, Commander William Riker, enters to deliver a sensor report. Muting his music, Picard surveys the information displayed on a PADD, but there is nothing of interest. Riker knows something is wrong and puts it bluntly, "Sir, why are we out here chasing comets?" Picard doesn't hesitate in his response, "Starfleet feels that a man who was once captured and assimilated by the Borg should not be placed in a situation where he would face them again." Riker shakes his head in disbelief, "Your experience with the Borg makes you the perfect man to lead this fight." Before their conversation can continue, Counselor Deanna Troi calls from the bridge: The Borg have reached Earth. Leaving the captain's ready room, Picard and Riker step onto the bridge and to their respective posts. Picard orders Lieutenant Commander Data to patch the ship's com into Starfleet's, allowing the entire bridge crew to listen in on the battle. Through normal ship-to-ship communications and calm chatter, a sinister voice cuts in; it is the voice of the Borg: "We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." Suddenly the com voices are frantic as the battle begins, and through the sounds of explosions, shouting can be heard. Picard listens intently then moves from his seat to Data's post, pressing a control that silences the noise. He turns to his crew and announces his intention to defy Starfleet, ordering the helmsman, Lieutenant Hawk, to set course for Earth, "Maximum warp." Explosions erupt on the hull of an advancing Borg cube as it slowly makes its way toward the planet Earth. Leading the advance, the warship ''Defiant'' has taken heavy damage but continues its assault on the invaders. Aboard the Defiant, the bridge is in shambles as its commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Worf, throws himself back into his chair. With the situation dire for the entire fleet, Worf knows what he must do and prepares to ram the Borg vessel. "Perhaps today is a good day to die!" Just then, the Enterprise warps onto the scene, opening fire on the Borg cube. On the bridge, Data reports the status of the cube, but Picard can hear them in his head, ordering the Defiant survivors beamed aboard. Hailing the other vessels in the fleet, Picard announces that he is taking command and orders all ships to target a single location on the Borg cube. Data informs the captain that the target does not appear to be a vital system, but Picard assures the android that he knows what he is doing. The captain stands in front of the viewscreen and watches as the battle rages on, then orders weapons to "Fire." Orange beams of phaser fire and powerful photon torpedoes slice into the Borg cube, targeting a single location. Instantly green fire explodes from within the cube and the entire vessel is engulfed in a sickly fireball. As the ship breaks apart, a circular airlock opens and a small, spherical vessel emerges, escaping the destruction of the mother ship. As the Federation fleet heads for safety, the Enterprise crew watches on screen as the Borg sphere ship flies past the Enterprise toward Earth. Picard orders Hawk to set a pursuit course and the Enterprise takes off after it. From a turbolift aft of the bridge, Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher walks onto the bridge and announces the arrival of her patient: Worf. Picard suggests Worf take up his old post at tactical as they prepare to take on the Borg sphere. On the viewscreen the smaller Borg vessel plunges toward Earth, opening an energy rift and disappearing into it. Data studies his readout and deduces that the Borg have opened a temporal vortex. Commander Riker knows exactly what that means: time travel. At tactical, Worf points out that Earth has dramatically changed. Staring at the planet behind the Borg's energy vortex, the crew realizes that Earth as they knew it is gone. In place of blue oceans, there are brown pools of fetid liquid; in place of green continents, only vast Borg cities. Data scans for life signs: "Approximately five billion. All Borg." Doctor Crusher doesn't understand how this could happen, but Picard thinks he knows. "They went back and assimilated Earth, changed history." Protected from the changes in the time line, the Enterprise crew has only moments to act before the temporal vortex collapses. The captain had made his decision: "We must follow them back. Repair whatever damage they've done!" With that, the Enterprise charges ahead, following the Borg into the time portal as it closes behind. Act Two 21st Century ]] In a wooded area, several men huddle around a campfire built in the center of a small shanty town. Zefram Cochrane and Lily Sloane emerge from a makeshift bar and talk quietly as they head home. Cochrane is clearly drunk, begging Lily for "one more round." Glancing up into the sky, Lily notices something odd. Cochrane dismisses it as the constellation Leo, but Lily isn't so sure. Suddenly, a volley of green disruptor fire rains down on the town, destroying several buildings. Cochrane and Lily run for cover. "We've got to get to the ''Phoenix!" Lily insists. Cochrane, however, is more concerned with staying out of harm's way as more weapons fire pummels the old town. On the bridge of the ''Enterprise-E, Captain Picard calls for a report. Data works his panel and announces that they have arrived in what appears to be the mid-21st century. Scanning the area for the Borg ship, the crew discovers the sphere in orbit over North America where it continues its barrage. Picard is quick to act, ordering Worf to fire quantum torpedoes which rip through the small Borg ship and destroy it. Moving to a science station, Riker scans the Borg's target: a missile silo in Montana. Picard turns to Data, ordering an exact date. Entering calculations into the computer, Data is able to pinpoint their location in time: 4 April, 2063, the day before first contact. Doctor Crusher deduces that the missile silo must be where Zefram Cochrane had built Earth's first warp ship. With sensors damaged, it is impossible to tell what havoc the Borg may have wrought on the surface. Picard orders Data and Doctor Crusher to accompany him to the surface and they head to the Enterprise transporter room. Materializing on the surface, Picard, Crusher, Data and an away team have disguised themselves in 21st century civilian clothing. Scanning with tricorders, they locate an entrance to the silo and search the missile control room for survivors. Using her medical tricorder, Crusher inspects a number of bodies, looking for Cochrane as Data and the captain head for the warp ship. Opening a heavy door into the cavernous silo, Picard and Data find the Phoenix only slightly damaged. Discussing the best way to go about repairing the ship and thus history, Picard and Data are unaware of Lily's presence below. Aiming a machine gun at the two Enterprise officers, Lily opens fire, narrowly missing them. Picard shouts down to her, telling Lily that they're here to help, but she continues to fire. Data tells Picard he believes he can handle the situation and steps off the landing. Descending several stories, Data lands gracefully at the bottom of the silo, where Lily is standing. She opens fire on the android, but the bullets cause no real damage. Unscathed, Data approaches her with a polite "Greetings". As she turns to flee, she suddenly faints. Catching the woman in his arms, Data realizes Lily needs help. Scanning Lily with her tricorder, Doctor Crusher diagnoses her with theta radiation poisoning, telling Picard that she will have to take her to the Enterprise for treatment. The doctor assures the captain that she will keep Lily unconscious to prevent any violation of the Prime Directive then dissolves away in the transporter effect. Trapping a concealed combadge, Picard calls up to Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge on the Enterprise, ordering the Lieutenant Commander to report to the surface with a repair team. In engineering, La Forge acknowledges the captain's order then assembles his crew, leaving Lieutenant Paul Porter in command. Taking a moment to himself, Picard places his hand on the titanium case of the Phoenix. Mimicking the Human's action, Data touches the missile himself, but is only able to assess it on a technical level, evaluating its temperature and compositional traits. Picard admits that he had seen this very vessel in the Smithsonian as a child and always wanted to touch it. Appearing on a level above, Counselor Troi reports to Picard: There's no sign of Cochrane anywhere in the complex. Picard is grim at the thought of the warp scientist's possible demise, "The future may die with him." Aboard the Enterprise, Porter is hard at work Lieutenant Eiger, trying to solve the ship's sudden and unexplained environmental problems. The entire deck, it seems, is suffering from the problem. Climbing into a Jeffries tube, the Lieutenant's investigation is interrupted by the sound of activity within the tube. Calling out to anyone who might be in there, Porter suddenly screams out in pain and is silenced. Entering the tube after him, Eiger barely has time to scream when she too is attacked. Picard can hear them again, the voices in his head. The captain contacts the Enterprise for a status report. Lieutenant Commander Worf responds, informing Picard of the ship's environmental difficulties. Acknowledging the Klingon's signal, Picard orders Commander Riker to take charge, alerting the Enterprise that he and Data will be returning to the ship. In sickbay aboard the Enterprise, Doctor Crusher and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa stand over a biobed, examining Lily. Suddenly, the lights in sickbay flicker and dim. Unable to contact the bridge, Crusher begins scanning with a tricorder when something smashes against the closed doors, making a large dent. Entering the bridge, Picard throws his coat onto his chair as Worf provides an update: they've lost all contact with deck 15. Lieutenant Hawk reports that deck 15 had experienced a rise in temperature and humidity which Picard recognizes as similar to a Borg vessel. With their ship doomed, the captain realizes, the Borg were able to transport aboard the Enterprise. "First they'll assimilate the ''Enterprise and then...Earth." The lights suddenly flicker and dim as computer terminals shut down. Data rushes to a console and enters an encryption code to lock the main computer. Worf reports that the Borg have cut primary power to all decks except 15, but Picard knows they won't stay on that deck for long. The pounding on the sickbay door continues. Beverly Crusher revives Lily who awakes panicked. The doctor tries to keep her calm, calling Ogawa for assistance. Together, the two women carry Lily into an open Jeffries tube - an escape route. Hesitating for a second, Crusher calls the computer, telling it to activate the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram. The holographic doctor appears, "''Please state the nature of the medical emergency." Crusher orders the doctor to create a diversion to give them time to flee the scene. The doctor is indignant, "I'm a doctor, not a doorstop." Crusher jumps into the Jeffries tube and closes the hatch behind her. The sickbay doors finally succumb and the Borg make their entrance. Scrambling through the Jeffries tubes, Crusher leads her staff to safety. Falling behind, however, Lily sneaks off in another direction. Below, Picard, Worf and Data have gathered a large group of security personnel. Each grabbing a phaser rifle, the crew studies a diagram of the Enterprise as Picard describes his plan: they will enter engineering and puncture the plasma coolant tanks flanking the warp core. Data agrees that this is an excellent plan as plasma coolant will liquify organic material on contact. Despite the Borg's nature as cybernetic lifeforms, this will defeat them. Taking a rifle for himself the captain warns his fellow officers: "If you encounter ''Enterprise crew members who have already been assimilated, don't hesitate to fire. Believe me, you'll be doing them a favor." They depart to do battle. Rock 'n Roll music echoes through the ramshackle village down on the surface of Earth. Inside the local watering hole, Deanna Troi sits at the bar nursing a drink. Entering the bar behind her, Commander Riker shouts for the counselor, but the music is too loud. Pulling the plug on the blasting jukebox, Riker finally gets her attention. Emerging from somewhere in the bar, Zefram Cochrane makes his appearance, throwing a bottle at Riker. "''Who told him he could turn off my music?" The warp scientist slurs his words, "Who is this jerk?" Deanna introduces Riker to Cochrane, who is less interested in the commander than he is in the beautiful counselor. Cochrane pours Troi another shot and they drink together. Reeling from the awful taste of the booze, Cochrane tosses another bottle toward Riker, then wanders over to the jukebox. Escorting a wobbly Deanna to a table, Riker seeks the counselor's advice on how to proceed. Troi suggests they tell him the truth. When Riker counters that the timeline will be altered, Troi responds, "Timeline?! This is no to argue about time! We don't have the time!" Tossing her hair back, she adds, "What was I saying?" Pointing out her obvious drunkeness, Riker openly laughs at Troi, who tells the commander that she thinks Cochrane is "nuts". Nearby, the scientist has finally reactivated the jukebox and begins dancing along with the music. Troi passes out, face down on the table. Split into two teams, Picard and Data lead a team of security personnel down an Enterprise corridor. Armed with phaser rifles, the team moves deck-by-deck, down to its destination. Entering a section of corridor mangled by the Borg, Picard and Data are surrounded by the Borg's handiwork. Data admits that he is feeling extreme anxiety. Suggesting the android deactivate his emotion chip, Picard tells Data, "There are times that I envy you." Meanwhile, Worf and crew enter have entered a similarly mangled section of the Enterprise - covered in exposed circuitry and wiring. Beverly Crusher and Ogawa surprise them by emerging from their Jeffries tube refuge. Scrambling into the corridor, Crusher tells Worf that Lily has gone missing. The Klingon vows to watch for her and assigns members of his team to escort the doctor and her staff to safety. Again making their way deeper into "Borgified" sections of the ship, Picard and Data catch their first glimpses of the cybernetic intruders. As two Borg drones approach unless they consider the team a threat. Cautiously following the Borg down the corridor, Picard's team enters the Borg hive just as Worf and his crew arrive. There are Borg everywhere, regenerating in alcoves constructed into the bulkheads. Approaching the door to engineering, Picard orders Worf to situate his men in a defensive posture as he makes his way to the manual release mechanism. Opening a panel, Data hits several commands into a keypad then pulls on the manual release lever, breaking it free from its housing in a shower of sparks. Suddenly, the Borg are awake. Stepping out of their alcoves they move toward Worf's men who open fire on the now aggressive drones. The battle begins. Telling Data to cover him, Picard throws open another panel in an attempt at rewiring the door. Suddenly, the engineering doors part and Borg drone steps out toward the captain. Evading the drone, Picard ducks as Data grabs it by the head and breaks its neck. With the fight going badly, Picard orders a retreat and the officers begin their escape. Behind Data, a door slides open and two drones grab the android by his legs, pulling him into engineering as the door closes fast behind them. Hurrying away from engineering, down a corridor, one of the security officers is caught by a Borg drone. With talon like tubules, the Borg injects something into the officer's neck then tosses him to the deck. Opening a Jeffries tube hatch, Picard shoves his men through the opening when the injured officer calls out to him. Picard watches as wires and Borg technology overrun the officer's body, then aims his phaser and kills the man. As the Borg approach, Picard throws himself into the Jeffries tube and seals the hatch. Safe from the Borg, Picard is caught off guard by Lily who strangles the captain then grabs his phaser. Pointing it at Picard, Lily demands to be released. Main engineering is infested with Borg activity. The once brightly lit chamber is now a dark maze of machinery. Lieutenant Commander Data opens his eyes to find himself restrained on a Borg operating table. Several drones near him work tricorders, attempting to break the encryption code the android used to secure the main computer. Data tells them that it is unlikely they can crack the code and take over the Enterprise. From somewhere over engineering, a female voice - almost amused - rings out, "Brave words. I've heard them before." Data is visibly curious. Conversing with the voice, Data assures the Borg that he is unique. The voice counters that he is an "imperfect being, created by an imperfect being." With that, the Borg activate a drill that penetrates the android's skull. Zefram Cochrane laughs outright. He doesn't believe Commander Riker's story about cybernetic beings from the future. Riker promises proof as Geordi La Forge uses Cochrane's telescope to locate something in the night sky. When he finds what he's searching for, La Forge hands it over to Cochrane who humors the Enterprise crew by taking a look. Cochrane is shocked to see the distant form of the Enterprise orbiting the Earth. Thinking it's a trick, Cochrane examines his telescope to find nothing. Deanna Troi informs the scientist that what he see's is their ship, where his friend Lily is right now. For some reason, Riker says, they have lost contact with the Enterprise, but they need his help. Cochrane wonders how he could help them. Riker explains, "Simple, conduct your warp flight tomorrow morning just as you planned." Cochrane wonders why. "Because," Riker says, "an alien ship will begin passing through this solar system." Cochrane is at first hesitant to face more aliens, but Deanna assures him these are "good guys". Riker tells him that the aliens will make contact with Humanity here, once they've discovered Humans can travel faster than light. Deanna tells him that this is a pivotal moment in Human history that will end all poverty and war on Earth. Geordi pipes in, adding that Cochrane's discovery will allow fleets of future starships to be built. Humanity will start exploring the galaxy. That is, unless Chochrane makes the flight. Looking up into the stars, Cochrane mulls it over, then agrees to cooperate. Aboard the Enterprise, the Starfleet crew is losing its battle against the Borg. More and more crew members have been assimilated, taken to a chamber of horrors to receive full cybernetic implants. As security teams attempt to keep the advancing drones at bay, they find themselves surrounded on all sides by Borg capable of adapting to their phaser fire. One group of Starfleet officers hurries into a darkened section of the ship only to find the red lasers of ocular implants emerging from blackness. Emerging from a Jeffries tube, Picard leads Lily to a small compartment. Lily keeps her distance from the captain, still holding his own phaser pointed directly at him. Picard attempts to assure Lily that he is here to help her, but she doesn't want help, just a way out. "All right," Picard says, "here's a way out." Punching a couple of buttons on a free-standing console, Picard opens a oval-shaped airlock in the bulkhead revealing space and the Earth below. Lily is stunned, staring down at the blue orb. The captain takes this moment to earn her trust, telling her to give him the weapon. Reluctantly she hands over the phaser, which, he tells her, was set to maximum. "It's my first ray-gun," she replies, inspiring a small smile on Picard's face. Taking her hand, the captain leads Lily to the airlock where he shows her the forcefield securing the hatch. Lily says she has never seen such technology to which the captain replies, "That's because it hasn't been invented yet." With more to show her, Picard opens the Jeffries tube hatch and leads the way. Still in captivity in engineering, Data looks up toward the ceiling as something appears from the shadows. "Are you ready?" The disembodied voice asks. Data is curious, "Who are you?" The voice is cryptic, "I am the Borg." A woman's head, neck and torso appears, suspended above the floor by cables that carry her down toward the android. "I am the beginning. The end. The one is who is man." A hollow body awaits the woman as she descends into and connects to become a whole person. "I am the Borg." The cables release the woman's shoulders and float back up and away; the Borg Queen steps forward. Pacing around Data's operating table, the Borg Queen introduces herself as not just any Borg - she is the Borg, an embodiment of the Collective. She tells Data that, like him, they are on a quest to better themselves, assimilating other races in order to achieve perfection. Questioning her sincerity, the Queen reacts by reactivating Data's emotion chip, flooding the android Lieutenant Commander with deep feelings of fear. A metal restraint suddenly pops open, revealing the android's wrist, stripped down to its circuits. In the place of his yellow-golden skin, a small patch of pink, organic flesh sits among flashing lights and wiring. This, the Borg Queen says, is their gift to him. She leans down and lightly blows on the flesh, causing the hairs on his new wrist to rise. Data reacts to the new experience with shock and pleasure. The Queen smiles, "Was that good for you?" Elsewhere on the ship, Picard and Lily head down corridor after corridor, red alert signals flashing silently. Picard explains the situation to her and describes the Federation. Lily is amazed at what she is hearing, more so at the sheer size of the Enterprise. Picard equates Humanity's drive into the cosmos to the selflessness of Zefram Cochrane. Before Lily can object to that comparison, however, she turns and screams. Just a few meters away, a section of corridor has been transformed into a Borg hive and drones swarm everywhere. Picard tells her not to be afraid and, grabbing her hand, leads her into a crowd of "cybernetic zombies". As they inch their way through the corridor, the Borg pay little attention to the two Humans. Arriving at a door marked "holosuite", Picard aims and fires his phaser, quickly provoking a response from two Borg drones who pursue them. Picard leads Lily into the holosuite, closing the door behind them. The Borg pound on the holosuite doors as Picard activates the arch, calling up a holonovel and ordering appropriate costuming. Tearing the holosuite doors open, the two Borg drones step out of 24th century corridor and into a 20th century nightclub. The Maitre'D is quick to block their entrance, telling them that they do not fit with the club's dress code. One of the drones grabs the hologram by the neck and both disrupt the projection by scanning it with their ocular implants. At the bar, Picard is dressed as Dixon Hill, Lily to the nines. As the Maitre'D's body is thrown into a tray of food, Picard realizes this is the wrong chapter and calls to the computer, "Begin chapter thirteen!" Suddenly, there is music and crowd of happy dancers. Picard grabs Lily and turns her into the crowd, telling her too look natural and blend in. He spots his target across the room, a gangster distinguished by a metallic nose - Nicky the Nose. Shoving through the crowd of period holograms, the Borg pursue Picard and Lily, sicking out in this 1950s recreation. Picard dances Lily over to Nicky's table, pats down one of the gangster's henchmen then grabbing a saxophone case. Throwing open the case, Picard retrieves a Tommy gun and opens fire on the advancing Borg. Blowing one of the drones away, Picard focuses his fire on the other, screaming in rage as the Borg is pummeled by bullets. The drone falls back onto a table and Picard wields the gun like a club, chasing after the Borg. "Hey! I think you got him!" Lily shouts, restraining the captain who breaks from her and tears into the chest of the Borg drone, digging into its flesh and circuitry. He pulls out a small device - the Borg's neuroprocessor - then attaches it to his tricorder, punching the controls angrily. Lily looks down at the body and realizes that this isn't just any Borg drone - this was once a Starfleet officer, still wearing a combadge. Picard already knows, this was Ensign Lynch. Lily is taken aback by the brutality of the captain, who tells her they've got to get to the bridge. On Earth, progress repairing the village continues. Zefram Cochrane has little to do but watch as the 24th century engineering personnel go about their work. Ducking into a dark corner, Cochrane takes a moment to drink from a flask, when Geordi La Forge calls him over for assistance. Reviewing a PADD, Geordi asks Cochrane to review his work. Cochrane is surprised at the accuracy, but La Forge shrugs it off - he learned about this stuff at Starfleet Academy. Lieutenant Reginald Barclay approaches La Forge and Cochrane, timidly asking to shake the scientist's hand and gushing about what an honor it is to meet the man who invented warp drive. As Barclay stumbles away, excitedly, Cochrane confesses to Geordi that he's uncomfortable with this sudden fame. La Forge assures him that it's just hero worship, "We've all heard about what you did here, or...what you're about to do." La Forge admits that he too is a little starstruck, having gone to Zefram Cochrane High School. Cochrane raises his hands to the sky in an "Oh God" gesture. "I wish I had a picture of this!" La Forge says, Cochrane is standing on almost the exact spot where his statue is going to be! Cochrane doesn't want to hear anything about it, excusing himself, "I gotta go take a leak." Reaching the bridge, Picard and Lily are greeted by the barrels of Doctor Crusher's, Lieutenant Hawk's and Commander Worf's phaser rifles. Crusher is relieves, they'd heard he had been assimilated. Picard assures her, "Reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated." With Lily in tow, Picard gets right to the point. Having accessed a Borg neuroprocessor, he has discovered their plans to build an interplexing beacon on the ship's main deflector. This will allow them to contact other Borg living in the Delta Quadrant of this century. With deflector control and the ship's shuttlebays controlled by the Borg, Picard realizes their only choice is to don EV suits and make the trek to the deflector on foot. The prospect makes Worf uneasy as they head to an airlock and suit up. Watching as they prepare to exit the ship, Lily warns Picard, "Watch your caboose, Dix," and the captain, Lieutenant Hawk and Worf disappear behind a closing hatch. In the Borg lair, drones continue to operate on Data's ever more Human arm. Taking advantage of a moment of distraction, Data is able to break from the restraints and subdue several drones. Attempting to flee, the android is blocked by a forcefield erected by the Queen and a Borg drone, armed with a claw-like arm extension swipes at his new flesh, tearing a bloody gash into his skin. Cradling the bleeding arm, Data is taken aback as the Borg Queen approaches him. If the skin means nothing to him, she says, tear it away like a "defective circuit". Data is torn as the Queen corners him against the operating table. "Data", she asks, "are you familiar with physical forms of pleasure?" She pushes closer to him and the android is clearly confused as she goes in for a soft kiss on the lips. Data grabs her hard and pulls her in for another, more passionate kiss. He has been seduced. As the EVA team reaches the deflector, Picard, Hawk and Worf discover the Borg hard work, building their beacon directly on top of the deflector's emitter. Firing their phaser rifles at the deflector, Picard says, would likely result in the destruction of the entire ship. They've got to get closer and release the deflector from the ship's hull manually. "Let's go." On the surface, Cochrane has taken off and Riker and Geordi are hot on his trail. Using the engineer's new occular implants, they are able to uncover Cochrane's hiding spot in the nearby forest and flush him out into a meadow. As several Enterprise officers chase Cochrane, the scientists refuses to go with them, telling them he doesn't want to be a statue! Riker has had enough and draws his phaser, firing an energy burst that strikes Cochrane in the back, sending him tumbling into a stream. At the Enterprise deflector dish, Picard, Worf and Hawk have situated themselves at three points around the circular perimeter. Crouching down to the manual input controls, each officer works to crack the computer code and release the deflector and thus the Borg communications device. Realizing their plan, the Borg are suddenly interested in the Starfleet officers. A drone approaches Lieutenant Hawk who fires his phaser rifle, sending the Borg spinning off the hull and into space. As Picard works, he too is seized upon by a Borg. Knowing that they have a limited number of shots before the Borg adapt, Picard fires his rifle at the hull of the ship, sending the drone flying in a shower of sparks. At his station, Worf is also dealing with an unwanted visitor as a Borg draws near. His phaser rifle useless, Worf must defeat the Borg hand-to-hand, drawing his mek'leth and slicing the drone's arm off. The Borg, however, scores a hit, cutting the Klingon's environmental suit open and exposing the Lieutenant Commander to space. Plunging the mek'leth into the Borg's body, Worf is victorious, but he has little oxygen left in his suit. Meters away, Hawk struggles with his manual release valve as yet another Borg drone lumbers toward him. The helmsman continues struggling with the device when the Borg drone catches him by the arm, injecting him with Borg nanoprobes and carrying him off and out of sight. The captain is also in jeopardy as a drone has backed him against a steep incline in the hull of the Enterprise. With his phaser rifle also useless, Picard releases his magnetic boots and floats off the hull, flying over the attacking drone. Grabbing onto the hull, Picard pulls himself down near to where Hawk was working and quickly takes up where the lieutenant left off. Finally releasing the last magnetic lock, Picard succeeds in freeing the deflector. As it floats away from the hull of the ship - with the Borg and their beacon - the deflector hits a snag, held on to the Enterprise by a thick cord. Reaching for a phaser rifle to disconnect the emitter, Picard is suddenly blocked by a now assimilated Hawk, who throws the captain against the hull and begins punching him in the helmet. Picard is helpless as the Borg Hawk pummels him, cracking his visor. A burst of phaser fire suddenly rips into Hawk who tumbles away into space. Worf, having used parts of the Borg he killed to repair his EV suit stands with his phaser rifle, grinning at the captain. Picard quickly moves for his rifle and fires, disconnecting the deflector emitter and the Borg communicator before it can be activated. Aiming his rifle at the deflector as it lazily drifts away from the Enterprise, Worf destroys it with a triumphant "Assimilate THIS!" He and Picard make their back inside the Enterprise. In the cockpit of the Phoenix, Cochrane is preparing for launch. Climbing into the seat behind him, Riker watches through the forward windows as the silo doors open, revealing a bright blue sky and a glimpse of the moon. Riker is thrilled by the sighting, telling Cochrane that it looks much different in the 24th century...all thanks to the scientist. Cochrane is terse, telling the commander that he has heard enough about "the great Zefram Cochrane." Squinting into the sunshine through a hangover, Cochrane admits to Riker that he is not the altruistic pioneer the Enterprise crew thinks he is; that he built the Phoenix for profit. Riker's faith in the scientist in unchanged, quoting a famous line, "Someone once said, 'Don't try to be a great man, just be a man and let history make its own judgements.'" Cochrane dismisses it as rhetorical nonsense, then asks who said that. Riker responds, "You did. Ten years from now." The two men continue to prepare for launch. On the Enterprise, the situation is even worse. Security officer Daniels gives the captain a firsthand report, telling Picard that the Borg have overrun decks 5 and 6. Daniels adds that their weapons are ineffective. Picard is vigilant, telling Daniels and his men to stand their ground, "Fight hand to hand if you have to." Worf objects, suggesting the crew evacuate the ship and use the auto-destruct sequence to destroy it. Crusher agrees, "You destroy the ship, you destroy the Borg." This angers Picard, who refuses to sacrifice the Enterprise. Worf insists, telling the captain that he believes Picard is allowing his personal feelings to influence his judgment. The two men go toe-to-toe, Picard telling Worf that he is a coward for wanting to "run away". Worf growls at the captain, "If you were any other man, I would kill you where you stand!" Picard orders Worf off the bridge then disappears into the observation lounge. As Worf departs and Doctor Crusher and crew resume working on ways to fight the Borg, Lily questions the captain's orders. Crusher tells her that the captain's decision is final, but Lily doesn't listen, charging into the observation lounge. Finding Picard at the large table modifying a phaser rifle, Lily curses the captain. She tells him that his crew believes this course of action is suicide. Picard is dismissive, telling her that none of them understand the Borg as he does. She doesn't understand, so he elaborates, telling her of his assimilation six years ago: "I had their cybernetic devices implanted throughout my body. Every trace of individuality erased. I was one of them." Claiming that his experience with the Borg gave him a unique understanding of how to fight them, Picard denies that his motives are personal: "In my century we don't succumb to revenge." Lily counters that it is clear the captain was seeking revenge when he shot Ensign Lynch on the holodeck. She insists he destroy the ship provoking an outburst. Throwing his phaser rifle into a glass display of model starships, Picard erupts, "NO! I will not sacrifice the ''Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. They invade our space, and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!"'' He turns from her and stands at one of the large windows of the observation lounge. Lily surveys the shattered display case and broken ships, then turns to leave, "See you around, Ahab." Staring out into space, Picard recites lines from Moby Dick, letting the words resound. He explains to Lily that Ahab spent years hunting the White Whale - a quest for vengeance that resulted in the captain's death and the destruction of his ship. Lily articulates it perfectly: "Maybe he didn't know when to quit." The words strike Picard hard, who drifts off toward the bridge. Stepping out onto the bridge, the captain resigns himself. "Prepare to evacuate the ''Enterprise."'' Act Three The countdown begins as preparations for the flight of the Phoenix conclude. Commander William Riker and Geordi La Forge have strapped themselves into the co-pilots seats and Cochrane goes over last minute checks. Aboard the Enterprise, Captain Picard, Doctor Crusher and Lieutenant Commander Worf have assembled on the bridge, instructing the computer to being the auto-destruct sequence. Below decks, Enterprise crew members scramble to the escape pods as the final codes are entered and the destruct sequence is set. Crusher wonders to Picard if they will ever built another one, to which the captain replies, "Plenty of letters left in the alphabet." As the crew evacuates the bridge, Picard catches Worf before he leaves. The captain tells the Klingon lieutenant commander that he regrets some of the things he said earlier, "In fact, you are the bravest man I have ever known." Worf and Picard shake hands, looking forward to their next meeting on the surface of Earth. Once the bridge is clear, Picard stands in front of his command chair and looks over the empty posts. The bridge is silent and he takes it all in then turns to leave. A voice catches him in mid-stride and he stops. The voice is familiar, "Captain..." Picard knows who it is: "Data!" In the Montana missile silo, the countdown continues with Deanna Troi working the control room. As the Phoenix prepares to blast office, Cochrane realizes he forgot something. Riker is alarmed, "Geordi, we've got to abort!" But Cochrane stops him, "No wait! I found it!" Pulling out a green disk and inserting it into a receiver, Cochrane activates the device, "Let's Rock and Roll!" "Magic Carpet Ride" blasts in the Phoenix audio speakers and over the communication lines to the control room as the rocket boosters fire and the missile launches. Through the open silo doors, the Phoenix blasts up, past the trees, shaking the tiny village below. As they make their ascent, Cochrane silences the music in time to see Earth glide away from the windows, the Phoenix enters space. In the darkened corridors of the Enterprise-E, the last of the ship's crew are making their way to escape pods. Picard escorts Lily to her lifeboat, handing her a PADD to give to Commander Riker. He wishes her good luck, but she realizes he's not coming with her. Picard explains to her that when he was kidnapped by the Borg those years ago, his crew risked everything to retrieve him. "There is someone still here and I owe him the same." Lily smiles and pats the captain on the back, "Go on and find your friend." She enters her escape pod and Picard closes the hatch behind her, as the lifeboats rise up from their bays and depart the Enterprise for the safety of Earth. Now alone on the ship with the Borg, Picard is free to go wherever he wants. Strolling into engineering, Picard enters the Borg hive with no resistance. Looking up at the assimilated warp core a familiar voice emerges from the darkness and the Borg Queen makes her appearance, "Isn't this familiar? Organic minds are such fragile things...we were very close you and I." A flood of memories flash in Picard's mind, images of Picard as Locutus and of the Queen herself. Suddenly he remembers her, she was there all along. "But that ship," he says, "and all the Borg on it were destroyed." The Queen mocks him, "You think in such three-dimensional terms, how small you've become." Then she turns to Data, standing in an alcove, "Data understands me." Picard now notices his android officer, his face now divided by a large patch of Human flesh and hair. "What have you done to him?" Picard asks. "Given him what he always wanted," the Queen replies, "flesh and blood." Picard appeals to the Borg Queen, suggesting she take him instead of Data. He tells her that he is offering himself to her without any resistance, just the way she wanted. She touches his face with her cybernetic hand and commends his nobility, deactivating a forcefield restraining Data and telling him he's free to go. When Data does not act, Picard orders the android to leave. Data resists, refusing to go. The Queen is delighted, telling the captain that she has already found an equal in Data. Then she orders the android to deactivate the self-destruct sequence and give her control of the computer. Data steps out from his Borg alcove and moves to a computer terminal, deactivating the destruct sequence and breaking the computer encryption code. He moves to stand next to her as two Borg drones seize Captain Picard. With his face now half organic, Data smiles and says of the captain, "He will make an excellent drone." In space, the Phoenix, Riker, La Forge and Cochrane prepare to bring the warp engines online. Looking out of a window, Cochrane spots the Enterprise approaching and is in awe. Riker tells the scientist to relax, the Enterprise is likely there to give them a send off. Picard is thrown onto the Borg operating table, a drone holding a saw to his next. Data stands at a free-standing console and punches in commands, activating the weapons systems. The Queen orders Data to lock onto the Phoenix and destroy it. Data hesitates for a second, then fires quantum torpedoes. The Borg Queen stands next to Picard and they watch a monitor together as the torpedoes streak toward the tiny warpship. "Watch," the Queen says, "Your futures end." On the screen, the torpedoes draw ever nearer to the Phoenix, then narrowly miss the vessel. The Queen spins around to face Data, yelling his name. Standing next to the warp core Data's face is fierce, "Resistance is futile!" He turns and punches a plasma coolant tank which explodes in a flood of radiant gas that overtakes the android and spills out over engineering. Aboard the Phoenix, the warp engines have been deployed and Cochrane orders their activation, "Engage!" The warpship jets off at warp speed, Cochrane screaming as the stars streak past the windows of his ship. Picard is quick to react to the coolant leak, leaping up onto the operating table and grabbing hold of several hanging wires. As the Queen activates two snaking cables to retrieve her, Picard latches onto them, using them to pull himself above the flood. The Queen reaches out and grabs onto the captain's leg, pulling him toward her as he struggles to climb. Emerging from the liquid gas, Data, his flesh now melted clean off, catches the Queens leg and pulls her hard toward him. The three struggling like this, hanging onto one another until Data overpowers the Queen, yanking her into the bubbling coolant where she immediately begins to dissolve. Falling out of warp, the Phoenix banks back and Earth appears distant in the windows. Cochrane is still in awe, amazed at how far they've traveled in just a few seconds. Venting the deadly gas from engineering, Picard climbs down to the deck amid a slew of dead Borg. Stepping gingerly over the metallic skeletons of what remains of the Borg, Picard approaches the body of the Queen. The skull and cerebellum of the Borg Queen are still alive, writhing helplessly on the deck. Crouching over the her remains, Picard picks up the Queen's skull and holds it in his hands. He stares down into the face of the former Borg Queen then violently breaks the cerebellum. The flashing lights of the skull quickly die and Picard throws it to the floor. Picard turns to find Data, circuitry on half his face and one arm exposed, lying against the remains of the Borg operating table. The captain rushes to the android's side, asking him how he feels. Data admits that he is sorry to see the Queen dead. Picard agrees that she was unique, but Data explains further. She brought him closer to Humanity than he had ever been and she tempted him, albeit briefly. The captain wonders just how long Data was tempted and the android replies, "Zero point six eight seconds, sir. For an android, that is nearly an eternity." * "Captain's Log, April 5, 2063. The voyage of the ''Phoenix was a success-- again. The alien ship detected the warp signature, and is on its way to rendezvous with history." Lights appear in the night sky over the Montana village. Captain Picard, Doctor Crusher, Commander Riker, Deanna Troi and Geordi La Forge have assembled to witness history as the alien starship breaks through the clouds and lands in front a crowd of onlookers. Cochrane is reluctant to greet the visitors as an airlock opens and cloaked figure emerges. Riker tells Cochrane that the aliens will want to meet the man who invented the warp ship and the scientist steps forward, taking Lily's hand. Standing in front of the alien vessel, Cochrane approaches the visitor who removes his hood and reveals himself to be a Vulcan. Extending a hand, the Vulcan displays his people's customary salute with the words, "''Live long and prosper." Cochrane attempts to imitate the gesture to no avail, bringing his hand down for a friendly handshake. Away from the crowd, Picard bids a fond farewell to Lily. Lily is sad to see him go, telling Picard that she envies him and the world he's going to. Picard counters, telling her that he envies her for being here during these historic days. He adds, "I shall miss you Lily" and leans in for a gentle kiss on the cheek. Joining his fellow officers, Picard and company transport back aboard the Enterprise to head back to their own time. Now in uniform, the entire crew of the USS Enterprise-E is together on the bridge. Taking their stations, the crew prepares for the journey back home, recreating the temporal vortex that brought them here. Sitting in his chair, Picard assures his officers that he suspects, "Our futures are there waiting for us." Then gives the command to "Make it so." Lily stands on a hill and looks up as the Enterprise enters the temporal vortex overhead. She turns and looks down to the village bar where Cochrane introduces the Vulcan's to booze. Revving up the jukebox, Cochrane plays them a song, showing them a few of his dance moves. The stars hang over the treetops of Montana and Rock 'n Roll plays on... Memorable Quotes "So, you're all... astronauts, on... some kind of star trek?" : - Zefram Cochrane, to Riker, Troi, and La Forge "Captain, I believe I speak for everyone here when I say, 'To Hell with our orders'." : - Data "Tough little ship." "Little?" : - Riker and Worf, speaking about the Defiant "Tell your men to stand their ground. Fight hand to hand if they have to." : - Picard, to Daniels "Timeline?'' This is no time to be arguing about time! We don't have the time!... What was I saying?" : - '''Troi', to Riker, while intoxicated "I'm just trying to blend in." "You're blended, all right." : - Troi and Riker, about Troi's intoxication "If you want my ''professional opinion, as ship's counselor... he's nuts!" : - '''Troi', about Zephram Cochrane "Assimilate this!" : - Worf, before blowing up the interplexing beacon floating off the Enterprise's deflector dish "Jean-Luc, blow up the damned ship!" "No! Nooooo!" (smashes glass and model ships with his phaser rifle) "I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already; too many retreats. They invade our space, and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds, and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further! And I will make them pay for what they've done!" (a brief silence) "You broke your little ships." : - Lily Sloane and Picard "Borg? Sounds Swedish..." : - Lily Sloane, to Picard "Definitely not Swedish!" : - Lily Sloane, after she saw Borg drones "Main power is off-line, we've lost shields and our weapons are gone!" (hits a console) "Perhaps today '''is' a good day to die! Prepare for ramming speed!" : - '''Helm officer' and Worf, on the Defiant "You do remember how to fire phasers...?" : - Riker, to Worf "I don't want to be a statue!" : - Zefram Cochrane, to Riker and La Forge "You told him about the statue?" : - Riker, to La Forge "I gotta take a leak." "Leak? I'm not detecting any leak." "Don't people from the 24th century ever pee?" "Oh. Right. That's pretty funny." :- Zefram Cochrane and La Forge "Resistance is futile." : - Data, to the Borg Queen before destroying a plasma cooling tank "No money? You mean you don't get paid?" "The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We wish to better ourselves and the rest of humanity." : - Lily and Picard "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" "HEY! (stopping Picard's shooting) I think you got him..." : - Picard and Lily, while Picard is shooting a dead Borg with a Tommy gun "Let's rock'n'roll!!!" : - Zefram Cochrane, seconds before the Phoenix launches "You'd better find a way to make it easy, soldier, or I'm going to start ''pushing buttons!" : - '''Lily', holding a hand phaser on Picard "Maximum setting, if you fired this you would have vaporized me." "It's my first ray gun." : - Picard and Lily "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." "Twenty Borg are about to break through that door. We need time to get out of here. Create a diversion!" "This isn't part of my programming. I'm a doctor, not a doorstop." "Well, do a dance, tell a story, do anything – just give us a few seconds!" : - Emergency Medical Hologram and Dr. Crusher Background Information Trivia * Paramount Pictures approached producer Rick Berman in to ready the next installment in the Star Trek franchise. Berman had a story involving time travel in mind, while Star Trek Generations writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga wanted to write a film about the Borg. They immediately decided upon a mix of the two. * An early story, titled "Star Trek: Renaissance", involved the Borg travelling back to the time of the Renaissance. There the crew of the Enterprise-E would have found a Borg hive hidden in a castle basement and Data would have become an apprentice to Leonardo da Vinci. The idea, however, was nixed when Patrick Stewart told the producers there was no way he was wearing tights. Additionally, the time period was seen as very expensive to realize on screen, and the audience knowledge of and identification with the period was very low. http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/6952/ron35.txt * The next concept more closely resembled the finished film, but featured prominent differences, most significantly featuring Riker fighting the Borg aboard the Enterprise while Picard remained on the surface to rally the residents of a small town around rebuilding and launching the warp ship. In the script, Zefram Cochrane was killed early on by the Borg. In another draft of this scenario, Cochrane was merely wounded, and Picard piloted the first test of the warp drive for him. * It was Patrick Stewart who suggested Riker and Picard swap positions within the story, shifting the focus of the movie to the action aboard the Enterprise. * With that shift, a love story between Picard and a photographer named Ruby would be almost entirely deleted from the script, replaced with the character Lily - a much less romantic interest. * Working titles for the film included Star Trek Destinies, Star Trek Generations II, Star Trek: Future Generations, Star Trek Regenerations, Star Trek: Borg and Star Trek: Resurrection. "Resurrection" however, was dropped when Fox announced it as the title for the fourth installment in the Alien series. Star Trek: Borg went on to become the title of a video game, released not long before First Contact. * Early drafts of the script were vague regarding the fate of the Defiant. Having read the script, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine producer Ira Steven Behr objected to its apparent destruction, prompting the writers to add the clarification "adrift but salvageable". * Moore and Braga had intended to stay true to the original concept of the Borg hive, until a Paramount exec noted that they were simply zombies. Thus, the Queen was created, intended to heighten the drama with a character that could actually have dialogue and emotion. * As a finishing touch to Brannon Braga's "Star Trek nativity" concept, "three wise Vulcans" appeared in the movie's finale. * The only reference the art department had regarding the appearance of the new Enterprise-E came from the script which stated that the ship "comes sleekly out of the nebula". * ILM built the 10-foot Enterprise-E model in about half the time normally required for such a complex miniature. * Inside the shooting model windows, the art department placed tiny pictures of rooms and people. * Early in preproduction, the Borg cube was to be a rectangular-shaped vessel; other shapes were toyed with, including that of an obelisk, before the producers opted to go with the classic cube shape. * The surface of the Borg cube model, built at ILM, was detailed with hundreds (if not thousands) of paper clips. * The ill-fated Ensign Lynch was named after Internet critic Timothy W. Lynch, who reviewed every episode of TNG and DS9. * Assimilated early in the film, Lieutenant Paul Porter can be seen in the background of many scenes in engineering, partially assimilated. He even screams during the death of the Borg Queen. * Gravett Island was named after Jacques Gravett, Brannon Braga's assistant. * Rumors have circulated that Lt. Hawk was intended to be Star Trek's first homosexual character; however, this has never been substantiated. In a story in the Star Trek: Section 31 novel series, his character did have a homosexual partner. * Several new classes of ships were introduced for the battle with the Borg, one being the ''Norway''-class starship which was later lost due to a computer glitch and subsequently never seen on Star Trek again. Other new ship classes included the ''Akira''-class, ''Saber''-class and ''Steamrunner''-class vessels. The ships were designed and rendered by Alex Jaeger. * Also seen in the background of the battle sequence is a ''Nebula''-class starship, an ''Oberth''-class science ship, and a ''Miranda''-class vessel. * A CGI model of the Millennium Falcon (created for the Star Wars special editions) was inserted into the Borg attack on Earth by John Knoll, an ILM visual effects manager. The ship is, however, indistinguishable. * Footage from the launch of the Phoenix was reused in the opening titles of the TV series Enterprise. * Footage of the Vulcan landing would also be reused in ENT, during the opening scenes of the episode "In a Mirror, Darkly". * This is the first time multi-species members of the Borg Collective can be seen including several Klingons, Cardassians and Bajorans. * The final scene shot was the first scene in the movie, the flashback featuring Picard during his assimilation. Fittingly, the scene required Patrick Stewart to wear the uniform he had worn throughout most of TNG. * The AE-35 unit is a reference to 2001: A space Odyssey. In the Arthur C. Clarke book, Frank Poole is killed while trying to remove a defective AE-35 unit by HAL, an artificial intelligence computer. In the movie, Frank Poole was played by Gary Lockwood (Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell). * In the novel Engines of Destiny, the ''Enterprise''-D is accidentally transferred into an alternate timeline where Kirk never fell into the Nexus, resulting in Picard dying in his attempt to stop Soran. As a result, the Borg trip back in time was successful and Earth was conquered, until the Enterprise crew (Allied with Kirk and Scotty, whose attempts to save Kirk unwittingly caused the problem in the first place) manage to send Kirk back into the Nexus after running through a Borg gauntlet using a plan of Scotty's. Cast trivia *It is widely believed that Kelsey Grammer has an uncredited cameo as Captain Morgan Bateson as captain of the [[USS Bozeman|U.S.S. Bozeman]] during the Starfleet com-chatter scene, uttering the single word, "acknowledged" to Starfleet's order that his ship and the Defiant fall back to mobile position one. *Michael Zaslow ( ), best known as the first person to be pronounced "He's dead, Jim", appears as Eddy, a bartender in Bozeman. * Jack Shearer would later reprise his role of Admiral Hayes in VOY: "Hope and Fear" and "Life Line", apparently not killed when his ship was destroyed. * Although Ethan Phillips portrays the maitre'd in this film, he specifically requested to not be credited. His thoughts behind this were that it would be funny to confuse fans who recognized him from playing Neelix but were unable to confirm his identity. * Another VOY actor, Robert Picardo, appears as the EMH. The scene, added late in preproduction, apparently upset Gates McFadden, who felt that Dr. Crusher shouldn't have to share screen time with another series' character. * Robert Picardo (the Doctor), Ethan Phillips (the holographic maitre'd), Dwight Schultz (Lt. Reginald Barclay) and Alice Krige (the Borg Queen) later all appeared together in the Star Trek: Voyager series finale "Endgame". * Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Robert Picardo (the Doctor), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Dwight Schultz (Lt. Barclay) and Jack Shearer (Admiral Hayes) would all later appear in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Life Line" together. * Don Stark (Nicky the Nose) had earlier appeared as Ashrock in the DS9 episode "Melora". * Tom Hanks was rumored to have been up for the role of Zefram Cochrane. While he may have been considered by the producers for the part, it seems unlikely that the limited budget of First Contact would have permitted the casting of such a big name. In any case, the rumor has never been substantiated. * Brannon Braga appears in holodeck scene, sitting on the right side of the screen as the Borg enter the nightclub. * This was the last appearance of Patti Yasutake as Nurse Lt. Alyssa Ogawa. * Lieutenant Daniels tells Worf the Borg control decks 26 through 11. However, Picard tells Lily that the ship has 24 decks. This is substantiated by all references to the stats of the USS Enterprise E. References to other series, movies and media *The reference that Data makes about using his "fully functional organs" times coincidently with the time he used them with Tasha in , eight years before the Borg invasion. *''First Contact'' references and even explicitly quotes Moby Dick. Despite the story parallels, the producers hesitated using it, as was also heavy in Moby Dick references. Two years after First Contact premiered, Patrick Stewart played Captain Ahab in a 1998 TV mini-series. * Early in the movie, Zefram Cochrane points out the constellation Leo, the constellation in which Wolf 359 is located. * First Contact marked the first time the words "Star Trek" were ever uttered in the franchise. In the TNG finale , however, Q tells Picard "It's time to put an end to your ''trek through the stars." * The program menu in the holosuite depicts various holodeck programs from previous episodes. Specifically: Café des Artistes ( ), Charnock's Comedy Cabaret ( ), "The Big Goodbye" ( ), Emerald Wading Pool ( ) and the "Equestrian Adventure" ( ). * During the end of the Dominion War, Quark would speak, in , the same words ("''The line must be drawn here! This far and no further!") as Picard does during Star Trek: First Contact. * Riker calls the Defiant a "tough little ship." In the DS9 episode , Thomas Riker called it the same thing. * According to the (apocryphal) Customizable Card Game by Decipher, the Vulcan who greeted Zefram Cochrane was named Solkar, the grandfather of Sarek and the great-grandfather of Spock. This was later confirmed in . * The events of Star Trek: First Contact were later referred to in , , and . The Borg sphere was recovered in , while a slightly different version of Earth's first contact with Vulcans can be seen in . * According to the ENT episode , though this movie records the first official contact between Earth and Vulcan, contact was actually made in 1957 in a place called Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania, nearly 110 years prior. * Subsequent Vulcan starships seen in Star Trek: Enterprise would be based upon the ''T'Plana-Hath''-type lander seen in this movie. * The partial flesh in Data's face resembles the mask of the Phantom of the Opera. * The CGI version of the Star Wars spaceship , as developed for the Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition, can be seen in the battle with the Borg cube. * The Borg Queen's skull resembles the skull of the endoskeleton in The Terminator. When Picard breaks the spine the red lights die off just like the eye of the Terminator. Sets and props * New sets for the Enterprise-E would be constructed for First Contact, including a three-story engine room and more corridor sets than seen on any other Star Trek ship. * The Turbolift walls on the bridge of the Enterprise-E are reused from the Enterprise refit bridge from 1979. * Sickbay was a redress of the ''Voyager'' sickbay while the observation lounge was a redress of the ''Enterprise''-D set of the same use, dating back to the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. * Voyager's cargo bay set can be seen as the crew prepares for battle with the Borg. * When releasing the deflector, each of the computer panels that Picard, Worf and Hawk use to enter the sequence have the phrase "AE35" on them. This is a subtle reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, AE35 being the communications link that the on-board computer HAL9000 disables. * The statue of Cochrane mentioned in this film would be seen as a miniature version in Captain Archer's quarters on Star Trek: Enterprise. * For the first time in the Star Trek film series, the transporter room does not appear. The Enterprise-E's transporter room did appear in the next film, but failed to reappear in Star Trek Nemesis. * The silo set used for Cochrane's ship was a decommissioned Titan II missile silo outside the town of Green Valley, AZ. The silo is now a museum operated by the Pima Aerospace Association. * According to Herman Zimmerman both the corridor and Main Engineering sets were originally constructed 'borgified', and then modified to appear like the un-assimilated Enterprise, once shooting scenes involving them assimilated were complete. * The model of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)]] that was on display in the conference room was auctioned off (albeit broken) in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. Promotion * The teaser for the film used score from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and various shots from other Trek movies and episodes. All effect shots (ships, space battles, pyro, weapons fire, etc) were recycled episode and film footage since the teaser needed to be cut prior to the completion of the film's effects to launch the publicity on schedule. This is why the ''Enterprise''-E is not seen until the full trailer. http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ac2qaeTOmlc * There is only one clip in the teaser that did not feature in any TV episode or movie. That was of the [[USS Voyager|USS Voyager]] firing multiple phaser blasts from its saucer array, at an early TNG version of a Borg Cube. The clip is seen near the end of the trailer and is backdropped against an orange nebula. * The theatrical trailer utilized bits of score from the crash sequence in Star Trek Generations. The trailer also featured various shots not included in the film such as an alternate take of Picard saying, "The line must be drawn here!" Merchandising * Playmates Toys released a line of action figures and accessories in conjunction with the premiere of the film. Among the toys was a model of the Enterprise-E, apparently based upon early sketches of the ship and not the finalized version. It features several key structural differences from the "real" starship. * Marvel Comics released both a comic adaptation of the movie, and a sequel comic book that crossed the crew with the X-Men in "Second Contact". This had a later sequel novel by Michael Jan Friedman, called Planet X. Costumes *Costume designer Bob Blackman created all new Starfleet uniforms for First Contact to go with the darker palette of the film. The costumes would eventually make their way into use in the final three seasons of DS9 and would appear in several episodes of Voyager. * Admiral Hayes' uniform, however, was a modification of an existing admiral's uniform variant. * Because of his heavy workload, creating costumes for DS9 and VOY, Blackman only designed Starfleet costumes, while Deborah Everton designed the rest, including all the Borg and civilian costumes. She went on to design the costumes for Ron D. Moore's "reinvention" of Battlestar Galactica in 2003. * The original costume for the Borg Queen was created out of hard rubber and was very uncomfortable for Alice Krige. A new suit was created overnight, following her first day of shooting, that was made out of soft foam. Music :See also: Star Trek: First Contact (Soundtrack) *Jerry Goldsmith, who composed the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, returned to score First Contact and the remaining two TNG films. * Because of his hectic schedule, Goldsmith shared much of the work with his son, Joel Goldsmith. It was because of this that much of the music in First Contact does not appear on the commercial soundtrack. * A theme established in The Final Frontier, often referred to as the "A Busy Man" theme, is used throughout First Contact, likely as a theme for Picard. It can be heard just after the opening fanfare at the beginning of the film. It can also be heard only briefly in Insurrection, but is used quite heavily in Nemesis. *The "Klingon Theme", originally introduced in The Motion Picture, is used in this film to represent Worf and is also heard in Insurrection. * The opera that Picard is listening to is Berlioz' Les Troyens - "Hylas' Song" from the beginning of Act V. (Hylas is a homesick young sailor being rocked to sleep by the sea as he dreams of the homeland he will never see again.) * This is the first and only Star Trek movie to have rock and roll in the soundtrack (though did feature some interesting late 80s jazz by the Yellowjackets, as well as a punk song.) Also, the new age group Hiroshima did compose some music for The Final Frontier, however it was heard as "sung" by Uhura and is therefore not considered source music. Reviews and opinions *''First Contact'' is considered by many fans to be the best of the TNG movies and was the second highest grossing Star Trek movie, second only to . * It is one of only two Star Trek movies to be given a rating of PG-13 by the MPAA, the other being Star Trek Nemesis. * The producers tried to get the kiss between Data and the Borg Queen nominated for the MTV Movie Awards "Best Kiss", but were unsuccessful. * Make up designer Michael Westmore was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on First Contact, though he unfortunately lost to Rick Baker's work on The Nutty Professor. His nomination was the last for the Star Trek movies. * First Contact would be the last Star Trek movie to be given "Two Thumbs Up" by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel who stated that, because of this film, Star Trek was "cool again". Box office performance *''First Contact'' premiered on , number one at the box office. With a budget of around $45,000,000 (US), it opened on 2,812 screens and went on to garner around $150,000,000 worldwide. By comparison, Generations, with a budget of $35,000,000, opened at $23,100,000 and grossed $120,000,000 worldwide. Links and References Cast *Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard / Locutus of Borg *Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker *Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data *LeVar Burton as Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge *Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf *Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi *Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher *Alfre Woodard as Lily Sloane *James Cromwell as Zefram Cochrane *Alice Krige as The Borg Queen Starfleet Personnel *Michael Horton as Daniels (as Security Officer) *Neal McDonough as Lt. Hawk *Marnie McPhail as Eiger *Robert Picardo as Holographic Doctor *Dwight Schultz as Lt. Barclay *Adam Scott as Defiant Conn Officer *Jack Shearer as Admiral Hayes *Eric Steinberg as Porter *Scott Strozier as Security Officer *Patti Yasutake as Nurse Ogawa *Victor Bevine as Guard #1 *David Cowgill as Guard #2 *Scott Haven as Guard #3 *Annette Helde as Guard #4 *Majel Barrett as the computer voice *Cameron as Ensign Kellogg (uncredited) * Michael Braveheart as Martinez (uncredited) *David Anderson as Armstrong (uncredited) Nightclub *C.J. Bau as Bartender *Hillary Hayes as Ruby *Julie Morgan as Singer in Nightclub *Ronald R. Rondell as Henchman *Don Stark as Nicky the Nose *Ethan Phillips as Maitre d' (uncredited) *Ray Uhler as Dancer (uncredited) *Mike Boss as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) *Brannon Braga as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) *Ronald D. Moore as Nightclub Patron (uncredited) Missile Complex *Cully Fredricksen as Vulcan Captain *Tamara Lee Krinsky as Townsperson *Michael Zaslow as Eddy (uncredited) Borg *Don Fischer *J.R. Horsting *Heinrich James *Andrew Palmer *Jon David Weigand *Dan Woren *Robert L. Zachar *Jeff Coopwood as Borg voice (uncredited) Stunts *Kenny Alexander *Janet Brady *Chic Daniel *Mark De Alessandro *Eddy Donno *Tony Donno *Kenny Endoso *Christian Fletcher *Frankie Garbutt *Andy Gill as stunt double for Brent Spiner #2 *Gary Guercio *Jim Halty *Tom Harper *Rosine "Ace" Hatem *Billy Hank Hooker *Buddy Joe Hooker *Maria R. Kelly *Jamie Keyser *Kim Robert Koscki *Joyce McNeal *Dustin Meier *Johnny C. Meier *Rita Minor *Jimmy Nickerson *John Nowak as stunt double for Patrick Stewart *Manny Perry *Steve Picerni *Danny Rogers *Jimmy Romano *Pat Romano *Debby Lynn Ross *John Rottger *Craig Shuggart *Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner #1 Stunt Borg *Joey Anaya, Jr. *Billy Burton, Jr. *Steve DeRelian *Andy Epper *Gary Epper *Wayne King *Bob McGovern *Monte Rex Perlin *Tom Poster Crew *Director: Jonathan Frakes *Writers: Rick Berman (story), Brannon Braga (story & screenplay), Ronald D. Moore (story & screenplay) *Based Upon Star Trek Created by: Gene Roddenberry *Producer: Rick Berman *Executive Producer, Unit Production Manager: Marty Hornstein (as Martin Hornstein) *Cinematographer: Matthew F. Leonetti *Production Designer: Herman Zimmerman *Editors: Anastasia Emmons, John W. Wheeler *Costume Designer: Deborah Everton **Starfleet uniforms designed by: Robert Blackman *Composer: Jerry Goldsmith *Co-Producer, Second Unit Director: Peter Lauritson *Casting Directors: Junie Lowry-Johnson, Ron Surma *Visual Effects Supervisor: John Knoll *First Assistant Director: Jerry Fleck *Second Assistant Director: Rosemary Cremona *Second Second Assistant Director: David A. Ticotin *Stunt Coordinator: Ronald R. Rondell *Art Director: Ron Wilkinson *Set Decorator: John M. Dwyer *Production Supervisor: Ira S. Rosenstein References Ahab; ''Akira''-class; antiproton; ''Appalachia'', USS; assimilation; atomic weapon; authorization code; auto-destruct; Battle of Sector 001; Berlioz, Louis Hector; "Big Good-Bye, The"; Bizet, Georges; Borg; Borg cube; Borg drone; Borg sphere; Borg Queen; ''Bozeman'', USS; ''Budapest'', USS; chronometric particle; Deep Space 5; ''Defiant'', USS; deflector control; deflector dish; Dixon Hill; Dyson; Earth; ECON; Emergency Medical Hologram; emotion chip; ''Endeavour'', USS; ''Enterprise''-E, USS; escape pod; First Contact; fractal encryption lockout; Gravett Island; holodeck; holodeck safety protocol; hydroponics; interplexing beacon; Ivor Prime; Kaplan (Crewman); kilopascal; Lake Armstrong; ''Lexington'', USS; Luna; Lynch; ''Madison'', USS; "Magic Carpet Ride"; main engineering; maglock; mek'leth; ''Miranda''-class; Moby Dick; Montana; "Moonlight Becomes You"; ''Nebula''-class; neuroprocessor; New Berlin; ''Norway''-class; ''Oberth''-class; "Ooby Dooby"; opera; ocular implant; Orbison, Roy; phaser rifle; Phoenix; plasma coolant; quantum torpedo; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulan Star Empire; ''Saber''-class; sickbay; Smithsonian Institution; ''Sovereign''-class; Starfleet Academy; ''Steamrunner''-class; stellar cartography; Steppenwolf; T'plana-Hath; tequila; temporal vortex; theta radiation; throttle assembly; ''Thunderchild'', USS; Titan V; tricorder; Tycho City; Typhon sector; vice admiral; Vulcan; warp drive; whiskey; World War III; ''Yeager'', USS; Zefram Cochrane High School; zero-gravity combat training Media * Star Trek: First Contact (Special Edition) * ''Star Trek: First Contact'' (Soundtrack) External Links * * First Contact de:Star Trek: Der erste Kontakt es:Star Trek VIII: First Contact fr:Star Trek: First Contact nl:Star Trek: First Contact pl:Star Trek VIII: First Contact sv:Star Trek: First Contact